1. Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of inbound shipment processing; and more specifically, to configuration of inbound shipment orders.
2. Background
Merchants commonly ship their goods (inbound shipments) to one or more warehouses in different geographic locations. These warehouses store the goods of the merchants until receiving a shipping order (outbound shipping) from the merchant instructing the warehouse to ship the goods. Commonly, the merchant packages their goods in multiple containers when shipping to the warehouses. For example, if the merchant sells widgets, the merchant may package multiple ones of these widgets in one or more containers prior to shipping them to the warehouse. Upon receipt, the warehouse breaks down the different containers to find the goods for shipping and stores these goods.
The merchants typically configure an inbound shipment order for each inbound shipment to a warehouse. Each inbound shipment order typically includes a packing list for the warehouse that lists the goods that the merchant wants to ship to customers. The warehouse typically uses the packing list when handling the corresponding inbound shipment (e.g., when unloading the inbound shipment). However, typically the inbound shipment order does not include instructions on how to locate those goods in the inbound shipment. As the package configuration of the inbound shipment becomes more complicated (e.g., goods being packaged in multiple or nested containers), the chance of the merchant making a mistake in the configuration of the inbound shipment order (e.g., providing the wrong level of shippable good) and the chance of the warehouse making a mistake in unpacking the corresponding inbound shipment (e.g., opening the wrong containers, etc.) increase.